This paper is concerned with the behavior of foam in porous media at the pore level. Identical, heterogeneous silicon micromodels, two dimensionally etched to replicate flow in Berea Sandstone, were used. The models, already saturated with varying concentrations of surfactant and, at times, oil were invaded with air. Visual observations were made of these air displacement events in an effort to determine foam flow characteristics with varying surfactant concentrations, and differing surfactants in the presence of oil. These displacement events were recorded on video tape. These tapes are available at the Stanford University Petroleum Research Institute, Stanford, California. The observed air flow characteristics can be broadly classified into two: continuous and discontinuous. Continuous air flow was observed in two phase runs when the micromodel contained no aqueous surfactant solution. Air followed a tortuous path to the outlet, splitting and reconnecting around grains, isolating water located in dead-end or circumvented pores, all without breaking and forming bubbles. No foam was created. Discontinuous air flow occurred in runs containing surfactant - with smaller bubble sizes appearing with higher surfactant concentrations. Air moved through the medium by way of modified bubble train flow where bubbles travel through pore throats and tend to reside more statically in larger pore bodies until enough force is applied to move them along. The lamellae were stable, and breaking and reforming events by liquid drainage and corner flow were observed in higher surfactant concentrations. However, the classic snap-off process, as described by Roof (1973) was not seen at all.

A new micromodel construction procedure has been developed as a tool to better understand and model pore level events in porous media. The construction procedure allows for the almost exact two-dimensional replication of any porous medium of interest. For the case presented here a berea sandstone was chosen. Starting with a thin section of the porous medium of interest, a two-dimensional replica of the flow path is etched into a silicon wafer to a prescribed depth. Bonding the etched pattern to a flat glass plate isolates the flow path and allows the pore level flow events to be studied. The high resolution micromodels constructed with the new procedure were used to study the effects of oil on the displacement characteristics of foam in a porous medium of intermediate wettability. A crude oil was injected into the micromodel, partially filling it. The oil was then produced under two different displacement schemes. First, a slug of surfactant was used. Second, foam generated in situ, far from the oil bank, was used to displace the oil. Qualitative observations indicate significant differences at the interface between the oil and the displacing phase. When slug surfactant injection is used, the oil appears to wet the surface. The oil displacement process is efficient due to a large fractional production of oil from the large pores before the surfactant breaks through. When in-situ foam is the displacing phase, the foam is observed to break near the oil interface. The liquid phase in the foam becomes the wetting phase. It is observed to reside in the small pores and to coat most of the grain surfaces. Displacement of oil under this injection scheme is inefficient due to transfer of the surfactant along grain edges and subsequent early breakthrough of the surfactant.